Children's Home run by South Tyneside Council in South Tyneside

Unique reference number SC032701 Inspection date 03/07/2012 Inspector Stephen Graham Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

p.1

Date of last inspection 22/03/2012 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

p.1

This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

p.2

Brief description of the service

This home provides care and accommodation for children who experience emotional and behavioural difficulties. The home is provided by the local authority.

p.3

The inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding : a service of exceptional quality that significantly exceeds minimum requirements Good : a service of high quality that exceeds minimum requirements Adequate : a service that only meets minimum requirements Inadequate : a service that does not meet minimum requirements

p.3

Overall effectiveness

The overall effectiveness is judged to be good .

p.3

Overall effectiveness

Young people living at the home receive good encouragement and support to help them to attend their education and employment opportunities regularly. They receive good support and advice regarding their personal health care needs and participate in a range of healthy leisure activities in their community. Young people practice their self-care skills regularly. They receive outstanding individual support from the manager and staff team and are encouraged to discuss their care needs. The building provides a comfortable environment for the young people who live there.

p.3

Overall effectiveness

The staff team provide young people with good support to help keep them safe. Young people feel safe living at the home. The home is very well led and managed. The arrangements used to monitor and further improve the service are outstanding. There are some minor shortfalls within the records available at the home. These shortfalls have no impact on the good quality care that young people receive from the staff team and manager.

p.3

Statutory Requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person/s meets the Care Standards Act 2000, Children's Homes Regulations 2001 and the National Minimum Standards. The registered person(s) must comply with the given timescales.

p.3

Reg. Requirement Due date

17B (2001) ensure that within 24 hours of the use of any measure of restraint in the home, a written record is made in a volume kept for that purpose, which includes the duration of the measure of restraint. (Regulation 17B (3)(4)(a)) 31/08/2012

p.4

Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):

p.4

Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for children and young people are good .

p.4

Outcomes for children and young people

The care that young people living at the home receive is personalised and meets their individual needs. Young people believe that the very positive relationships they have with the staff team is one of the best things about living at the home. They also describe how they are able to talk with the staff team very regularly about their care needs. Young people are very familiar with their individual care plans and they help to write them. The staff team also work well with social work professionals to achieve good outcomes for young people. One social care professional describes the ‘good interaction between staff and young people’. The individual achievements of the young people living at the home are documented very clearly by the staff team.

p.4

Outcomes for children and young people

Young people enjoy a healthy and active lifestyle. They participate regularly in a broad range of healthy activities within the local community. Young people access the health services and support that they need. They agree strongly that staff look after them if they feel unwell. The staff team at the home have access to a good range of information, resources and independent advice which helps young people to maintain good health. One social care professional describes staff as ‘proactive’ in their approach to ensuring that the health care needs of each young person are met.

p.4

Outcomes for children and young people

Young people enjoy good outcomes in their employment and education. They strongly agree that the staff team make sure that they attend their education or employment regularly. The staff team support their learning and celebrate their individual achievements with them. The staff team work closely with employers and education staff to ensure that information is shared effectively and is used to support good employment and educational outcomes. Young people practise and develop their self-care skills whilst living at the home. They are confident, as appropriate to their age and understanding, about their readiness for independence and adult life.

p.4

Quality of care

The quality of the care is outstanding .

p.4

Quality of care

Young people receive outstanding support and care from the staff team at the home. Equality and diversity issues are identified clearly in their individual care plans and are positively addressed in their daily living arrangements. One social care professional with links to the home commended ‘the commitment of the staff team to young people’ adding that ‘this does not stop when young people leave the home, the staff team keep in touch, they are committed’. Regular meetings are organised to review the effectiveness of care plans. Young people participate fully in these meetings and are helped to lead these meetings personally should they choose to do so. They feel that they are listened to at these meetings. Managers and staff team members also attend and provide detailed reports regarding the progress being made by each young person.

p.4

Quality of care

The manager and staff team have well organised admission procedures in place which they use very effectively to admit young people safely and to help them settle in quickly. Introductory visits are organised where possible and admission documentation is completed in detail. One social care professional gave a very positive description of their experience of placing a young person at the home for the first time. The young person had been able to have an introductory visit to the home. During this visit, the young person was able to have a good look around and got to meet a lot of the staff, they had also been given their own booklet about the service.

p.5

Quality of care

The home is very well presented, furnished and decorated. It comfortably meets the needs of the young people who live there. There is extensive communal space and each young person has their own bedroom. There are more than sufficient bathroom facilities. Young people enjoy easy access to the enclosed garden and outdoor play space. They also have very good access to a broad range of local community facilities. Social care professionals believe that the staff team provide young people with a safe and comfortable environment that meets their needs.

p.5

Quality of care

Young people are supported by the staff team to enjoy healthy diets. They are regularly involved in menu planning and are encouraged to practice and improve their cooking skills. The food provided at the home includes a range of healthy choices and examples of food from different cultures. The staff team are trained in safe food hygiene, first aid and the safe administration of medication.

p.5

Quality of care

The staff team develop and maintain very positive and constructive relationships with young people living at the home. They use the agreed plans in place to manage behaviours positively and effectively. Young people are encouraged to give their views on how the home is run. Good records are maintained which demonstrate clearly how the ideas and suggestions they make are incorporated into overall care arrangements. Young people describe being able to talk regularly with staff as one of the best things about living at the home. The staff team also ensure that the views of social care professionals, parents and carers regarding what they think about the service and how it might improve are gathered and considered regularly.

p.5

Safeguarding children and young people

The service is good at keeping children and young people safe and feeling safe. The home has good arrangements in place which safeguard the young people who live there. Risk assessments are completed by the manager in partnership with placing social workers, young people and their parents and carers where possible. One social worker highlighted the thoroughness of the initial assessment of risk completed jointly with the manager for the young person they had placed. Care plans clearly identify risks and protective factors for individual young people. There are clear reporting procedures in place should any safeguarding concerns arise. The staff team are trained to help protect young people from abuse and have access to agreed safeguarding guidance. Social care professionals believe that the staff team help young people to understand how to protect themselves. These arrangements are effective in helping to ensure that young people are cared for safely.

p.5

Safeguarding children and young people

The staff team have access to clear procedures which they use to help ensure that where young people go missing from the home, they are found and kept safe, as quickly as possible. Some young people have gone missing from the home. However, the staff team have worked consistently with placing social workers and family members to reduce the number of events and to minimise any risks to young people. Overall, young people enjoy very positive and constructive relationships with the staff team. The use of restraint and sanctions are very rarely necessary with the young people living at the home. However, when events do occur, the log used to record the required description of the event is not always completed in sufficient detail.

p.6

Safeguarding children and young people

There are good arrangements in place which help to ensure that the home remains a safe place for young people to live. Safety checks and health and safety risk assessments are used to help minimise any risks to young people. The staff team are trained to know what to do in any emergency and they practise this regularly with young people. There are good arrangements in place to complete required checks on any new staff team members that may come to work at the home. Visitors to the home are closely supervised by staff to help ensure that children are kept safe when they are present.

p.6

Leadership and management

The leadership and management of the children's home are outstanding .

p.6

Leadership and management

There are outstanding management arrangements in place at the home which work very effectively to monitor the quality of care provided to young people. These arrangements also encourage further improvements at the home as well as in the very positive outcomes enjoyed by young people. There is a Statement of Purpose in place which is reviewed regularly to ensure that it describes clearly the service provided at the home. Young people receive their own summary guide to the home which also contains very good information.

p.6

Leadership and management

The staff team are very experienced and they are well trained in working with children and young people. All of the staff team participate regularly in a range of additional training opportunities. This helps to ensure that they have the knowledge and skills required to care for young people successfully. The staff team receive regular supervision and there are arrangements in place to appraise their performance annually. The views of young people themselves on the quality of care they receive from staff are encouraged and acknowledged within these arrangements. The daily staffing levels at the home are closely monitored by the manager to further ensure that young people receive the care and support they need. The home maintains a good relationship with the local community.

p.6

Leadership and management

The manager has detailed systems in place which they use to monitor the home's records and to create reports regarding the quality of the service being provided to young people. Independent monitoring visits are also completed on behalf of the registered provider. These also report clearly on all required and recommended matters. The information gathered through these monitoring arrangements is regularly reviewed and is used to help plan further improvements to the service. Social care professionals with links to the home agree strongly that improving outcomes for children is the clear priority of the manager and staff team.

p.7

About this inspection

The purpose of this inspection is to assure children and young people, parents, the public, local authorities and government of the quality and standard of the service provided. The inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service and to consider how well it complies with the relevant regulations and meets the national minimum standards.

p.8

About this inspection

The report details the main strengths, any areas for improvement, including any breaches of regulation, and any failure to meet national minimum standards. The judgements included in the report are made against the Inspections of children’s homes – framework for inspection (March 2011) and the evaluation schedule for children's homes.

p.8